Instant messaging is becoming a very popular communications tool for users of computer devices. An instant messaging (IM) application (e.g., WINDOWS® Messenger system of Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., Yahoo! Messenger, AOL instant messenger (AIM), and the like) enables a user to engage in a real time conversation with one or more contacts, who are identified in the user's private list of contacts. Typically, private lists are stored on a server, such as a switchboard, or relay server, through which a conversation is established. The switchboard server then routes inbound messages to the appropriate recipients.
As instant messaging systems advance, they can provide more features that make the instant messaging conversation a richer experience. Such features operate on various types of data objects, in addition to text. For example, a custom user tile feature allows a user to generate and transmit a custom user tile that uniquely represents the user on another user's computer. Transmission of such feature objects typically requires a higher bandwidth, than text, to appear error-free to the recipient. In addition, objects that represent a user during a conversation typically will change infrequently compared to how often such objects are accessed.
Unfortunately, traditional instant messaging applications do not provide mechanisms to efficiently manage feature objects while preventing tampering of such objects. For example, if a user were to simply send his/her unique custom user tile to a second user, the second user could change the first user's tile so that the tile no longer represents the first user in the way he/she wants to be represented.